Yesterday’s massive protests against a controversial extradition bill have bled into today, with hundreds of Hongkongers — mostly students — still occupying an area near the Legislative Council to demand a dialogue with embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
Protesters, some of whom had remained in the area since yesterday evening, gathered outside the chief executive’s offices — which are adjacent to the LegCo — a little after 3pm this afternoon. Though Lam had announced on Saturday that the government would “pause” it’s work on the divisive bill, which would allow extraditions to the mainland, hundreds of thousands of opponents of the legislation still turned out yesterday to demand it be withdrawn altogether, and that Lam step down over the debacle.
Still unsatisfied even after Lam apologized for the government’s handling of the bill yesterday evening, protesters this afternoon massed at Lam’s official offices, forcing road closures on Tim Wa Avenue, Lung Wo Road, and the Central-Wan Chai bypass.
Undeterred by the rain, protesters chanted “Students did not riot” — a reference to the government’s heavy-handed response to a major protest last Wednesday — and called for a direct dialogue with Lam, while also calling for her, Security Secretary John Lee, and Police Commissioner Stephen Lo to resign.
Despite the protesters’ staying power, however, this evening’s far smaller demonstration appeared to lack the focus and urgency of previous outings.
When asked why he was at the protest, one man, surnamed Hin, simply said, “I don’t know. I’m here to support the students.”
Another protester, who gave her name as Chan, expressed a similar sentiment.
“I’m here to show my support,” she said. “We need to show a united front.”
“Of course she’s not coming out for a dialogue; she’s probably gone home now,” she said of Lam. “I supported what the lawmakers said earlier, which is to wait until tomorrow to see what she does, because she has the weekly press conference tomorrow.”
Lung Wo Road was a flash point during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, with some of the most violent clashes between police and protesters taking place on the road during the 79-day occupation as officers tried to clear out demonstrators.
One of the Umbrella Movement’s most prominent faces, Joshua Wong, was released from jail this morning after being sentenced in May over his role in the protests. In his first remarks upon leaving prison, he called for Lam’s resignation.
Reporting by Vicky Wong.
